Tycoons: the Making of North American Capitalism

This course will look at the entrepreneurs who created the modern North American economy. Each lecture will focus on the life and times of a particular businessperson. Their biographies will be used to show how North American capitalism evolved in a particular epoch. Important course themes include: the rise of Big Business in the 19th century; the explosive growth of capital markets; great financial disasters; the impact of break-neck technological innovation on the economy and on society; businesses that made money from warfare; the role of business in political conflict; successful businesspeople who were members of persecuted racial and religious minorites; and the differences between Canadian and American political culture. (lec 2, tut 1) cr 3.